De politia judaica, tam civili quam ecclesiastica, jam inde a suis primordiis, hoc est ab orbe condito, repetita

catchword: destruction

Certain other things, moreover, happened among them in this ecclesiastical polity of the Fathers, which it seems worth the effort to examine before we descend to the civil polity of the Fathers.

Gen. 5.4, &c. For it must by no means be overlooked that Moses so diligently pursues the genealogy of Adam, through Seth and certain ones chosen from his descendants. That indeed seems to point entirely to our knowing how well and happily God continued His Church and took care of its governance.

Therefore, when by reason of age it was no longer permitted for Adam to attend to the governing of the Church, Seth was placed in charge of it. For the same reason, Enos succeeded Seth, Cainan succeeded Enos, Mahalaleel succeeded Cainan, Jared succeeded Mahalaleel, Enoch succeeded Jared, Methuselah succeeded Enoch, Lamech succeeded Methuselah, and Noah succeeded Lamech 2. Pet. 2. 5. 1. Pet. 3. 19. & 4. 6., who is also called the Herald of righteousness and the Herald of Christ himself.

When, however, that man had sung to deaf ears for a very long time, especially during those one hundred and twenty years in which he built the ark, he finally received commands from God to enter into the ark together with his family and various species of animals, so that he might be safe there while all other things that existed were devoted to extreme destruction